Are you a newbie or an experienced teacher? There are certain issues that you worry about from time to time in your career.
At the end of every holiday, teachers are always worried because they will be going back to school.
Like experienced teachers, new teachers are also worried because they will be teaching for the first time.
In this blog post, I am going to explore the various reasons why teachers are worried when it is time for them to go back to school. I will also suggest strategies to help you overcome your fears.
What Are Some Issues Teachers Worry About?
There are numerous things that teachers worry about at some point in their careers. In this section, I have provided 15 such issues that you would likely worry about, as a teacher. These are shown below:
1. Difficulty in Managing Students
Teachers always concern themselves about whether they will be able to manage the behavior of their students in the classroom. This is often the case when the new school year is about to begin. That is because teachers are going to meet new students.
Like experienced teachers, newbie teachers are going to meet and teach students for the first time, as main teachers, in their career.
You may also be worried that you will not be able to manage the behavior of the new students coming. As mentioned earlier, you are not alone. Do the following:
a. Be confident in your abilities to manage your new student’s behavior.
b. Be sure to prepare yourself ahead of time by planning some of the classroom management tools.
c. Get a mentor who is ready to help you when necessary.
2. Fear of Sucking at Teaching
Here, some teachers are worried they may not be able to teach well. That’s they feel they will suck at teaching.
This is normally one of the key worries of new teachers. They feel pressured when they are going to start the new school year as the main teacher.
If you feel that way, don’t worry it is normal. It does not only relate to teachers; it happens in every profession.
Nobody started with full confidence and perfect knowledge in teaching.
You will catch up with time. That’s, you will learn from your mistakes and failures. That is the most important thing to do.
Always reflect on your style, methods, and techniques of teaching. Doing that will help you identify points that are great and those that need improvement. Based on that, you will get better at your teaching abilities.
For example, I had similar worries when I was about to start my teaching career. But I was encouraged by a senior colleague, and I will always be grateful to her. I made mistakes and failed many times, but I always corrected them.
3. Your Students May Know More Than You
Many teachers often worry about the possibility of their students knowing more than them.
That thought is informed by the belief that if you are teaching a topic, you must be an expert in that. That should not be the case.
If you are one of those people, you need to know that nobody knows everything about a topic or course.
However, quality teaching need not be a show of how knowledgeable you are, as a teacher in the topic area.
It is about helping your students understand what it is you want them to know. It involves employing methods that are appropriate to help students learn effectively and efficiently.
It is about relating concepts to real-life experiences of your students to help them comprehend well.
Remember, if you forget or don’t know something in the process of teaching, refer to your teaching materials for help. Don’t pretend to know it.
Also, don’t argue or pick a bone with a student if he or she corrects your mistake. Deal with that professionally.
Finally, don’t be arrogant to feel or think that you know more than your students.
4. Worrying about students’ welfare
As teachers, it is right to worry about the welfare of your students. That’s because you care a lot about your students and their interests.
I have been there before. In my first year as a teacher, I was doing a bit of advocacy work for some of my students from their parents.
I have proposed many solutions and strategies for parents to implement to help their kids catch up with their friends.
Together, we have succeeded with some students, but we can’t just succeed with others. Due to several factors, we succeeded with others and failed woefully with others.
Now, I have realized that you can’t just get everyone at par in the classroom. You have to do your best and not just give up. Until you try on numerous occasions and fail, never give up.
I am a believer in destiny. Everyone and what awaits him or her. No number of efforts or worries will change their situations.
5. You May Make Mistakes
At the beginning of my career, I was always worried about making mistakes in class. For example, I was always concerned about making mistakes when managing students’ behavior.
Because of that, I was overwhelmed and stressed in the early days.
But I soon realized that I was wasting my time and energy. They say it’s human to err, and that applies to me too.
Regarding the content you are teaching, you can make mistakes too. Some may be embarrassing, others may not.
Whatever the situation, handle it professionally. If your students correct you, don’t take things personally.
Remember, you are not a superhuman. You can make mistakes, and it should not be a crime if someone corrects them for you.
6. You will Bore Your Students
Many teachers worry about the possibility of making their students bored with their teaching.
I strongly believe that you don’t have to be a comedian or an entertainer to deliver a great lesson.
What matters is planning and delivering a lesson that is engaging to your students. You may ask, how am I going to do that?
Be enthusiastic about the topic and deliver the lesson with passion. The positive energy and enthusiasm in you will get your students to participate or engage well in the lesson.
But if you come to class with doubts about your ability to deliver an engaging lesson, your students will end up getting bored because of the negative energy inside of you.
From time to time, introduce some humor in your classroom. But remember not to overdo it.
Relate your lessons to the personal experiences and interests of your students. This will motivate them to engage well during your lessons.
Refer to this article for more information on how to motivate students to engage well in class.
7. Cultural Differences
Some teachers often worry about how to handle cultural issues in their classrooms.
This is common among teachers who have multicultural classroom environments. It also happens when the teacher has a different culture from the dominant culture in his or her class.
I am currently facing the situation, but I have always found my way of managing it appropriately without problems. Actually, it is not the first time I have taught a culturally diverse classroom.
When you find yourself in that, make sure you understand the cultural perspective of issues in class before you make decisions.
Be mindful of the cultural implications and impacts of decisions in your classroom.
For example, the culture of students will dictate rules setting and whether the rules will be useful and effective or not.
In short, don’t underestimate the impact of culture in your classroom. Find more information here on why culture is important in the classroom.
8. Finding Enough Teaching Materials
Depending on your context, this will be a concern or not.
Some teachers constantly face problems finding adequate teaching materials to aid their work.
I also face this difficulty sometimes. It is frustrating to know that you can do better in delivering a lesson, but due to inadequate, insufficient, or even no teaching materials, but there is nothing you can do.
At the beginning of the 2021–2022 academic year, they told me of a person who left her teaching job because of a lack of teaching materials.
If you have the same concern, make do with what is available to you. Even though you might be stressed, you have to manage.
9. Motivating Unmotivated Students
Getting students motivated to learn is an important concern for all stakeholders in education.
Yes, as a teacher, you must be worried about how to motivate your students to learn.
You might succeed in motivating some students, but you may not with others.
You need to know that you cannot always succeed with everybody. This is because there are so many things peculiar to each student that are beyond your control.
So, don’t worry so much when you fail with some students. Check out our article on how to motivate students here.
10. Students Will not Listen to You
Yes, this issue might come to your mind, especially if you are going to teach for the first time. It is normal.
I wish to inform you that the responsibility for getting your students to listen to you mostly lies with you.
I am not putting everything on you. I acknowledge the fact that sometimes you can’t control everything that will allow students to listen to you.
Unfortunately, or let me say, fortunately, you are responsible for the majority of the blame if your students don’t listen to you.
Let me ask you a question. Will you listen to an unenthusiastic lecture for 40 minutes?
I think we adults will not bother paying attention for even five minutes.
So you must speak with enthusiasm and passion when teaching. You must also be calm but firm when giving instructions to students.
In a nutshell, you must work to find useful strategies to get your students’ attention. This article will be useful to help get students to stop talking and listen to you.
11. What to Do When Things Go Wrong
It is legitimate to be concerned about what you are going to do when things go wrong.
I know that sometimes things just go wrong and there is not much you can do.
But I will like you to also think of how you will feel if everything goes well and smoothly in the classroom.
From that, you should think of what to do or not do so that everything will go as planned for your lessons.
So, while you are thinking of what to do when things go wrong, you must equally be planning how to prevent things from going wrong.
When things do go wrong, you must be professional in dealing with them. Deal with them completely.
Don’t get partial solutions to problems in the classroom. When the issues are beyond your control or if you cannot solve them, don’t feel shy about asking for help.
Your colleagues will be willing to help you out in the event of difficulty. So, collaborate with appropriate persons to help you solve problems you can’t solve on your own.
12. How to Handle Troublesome Parents
Parents are key partners in the education of their wards. They are helpful in getting teachers to educate students.
But, some of them can be troublesome and not always understandable. These parents are always a nightmare to deal with.
Due to that, most teachers worry a lot when dealing with parents. Meanwhile, they should be partners in helping students get the best education possible.
If you are worried about that, parents should not be the people you worry about so much. Worry much about their kids.
Remain professional when dealing with them. If they want you to do something that is beyond your boundaries, refer them to your authorities.
Always try to avoid unnecessary arguments with parents. Be careful not to say anything bad about them or about their kids.
When there’s a problem with their kids, don’t expect them to be on your side. They may even defend their kids.
Depending on the protocols in your school, you must deal with parents carefully. Check here to learn how to deal with difficult parents.
13. How to Handle Special Needs Students
Sometimes you find some students who need special attention in your class. That can put a lot of responsibility on you.
For example, there are students with autism, ADHD, ADD, and others that you need to give special attention to.
The pressure and workload that come with that are what is scaring people about it.
If available, your assistant will always help you maintain them. But if you have no assistance, understand their situation and help them as such.
Remember, you are just a teacher and do not have the requisite qualifications to go beyond certain limits when dealing with special needs students.
If available, maintain contact with the school’s psychologist or guidance and counseling staff when managing special students.
14. Not Get Support from School Authorities
Teachers need their authorities’ support to perform their roles as expected of them.
It is because of this that most teachers worry about whether they will always get the support of their authorities when performing their jobs.
This fear is based on past experiences where teachers were left to their fates while doing their work.
This fear affects what the teachers do to help students learn adequately.
For example, a student got injured when playing with his friends, and his classroom teacher was sued for neglect of duty. In trying to solve the problem, the teacher did not get the best of support from the school’s authorities.
Due to that, she resigned from the school after the case was settled.
You require the support of your authorities to function effectively. But always try to work within your boundaries.
Follow your district education rules and those of your school. Avoid illegalities as much as possible.
15. The Fear of Being Overwhelmed
This is related to most of what has been stated in the preceding points. Teachers always worry about the pressure that comes with dealing with students.
You may also be worried about the workload and stress that you experience and feel when dealing with students.
I know it’s sometimes extremely difficult. But note that it is rewarding too.
Look or think about the good side of it. Think of the satisfaction you get when you see one of your old students do great things for his or her society.
Look at that and pick back your motivation to prepare for the beginning of the school year or semester.
Final Thoughts
From the above, we realized that teachers worry about lots of things that impact their performance at the post. Apply the suggestions provided in this article. They will help you overcome the fears mentioned. I hope this will be helpful for you. Thank you for staying around. Visit here for more of our articles.
